Kelley G Rickard

The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast of interest rates in Ireland during the recession of the 1980s and during the Financial Crisis of 2008. The impact of the global recessions of the 1980s and the Financial Crisis of 2008 appear to have excessively affected Ireland. Both of these recessions affected every Irish individual and led to high unemployment rates and mass emigration. The aim of this research is to highlight the similarities and differences between the recession of the 1980s and the Financial Crisis of 2008, in order to assess the role played by the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Central Bank during these periods. This research will focus on both the interest rates and policy responses during these recessions.
In order to establish these aims this research will use a qualitative method of collecting data. The required data will be obtained from the OECD databases, The World Bank, the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Central Bank. This will be desk assessed by referencing the relevant academic and literary sources.

Understanding the potential exposures faced by organisations is an essential part of risk management in modern firms. Risk management involves forecasting and evaluating risks while identifying processes and procedures which can minimise, or even eliminate, their impact. This essay shall discuss managing risk and the ISO standards which are available to organisations to enable them to identify potential risks before they arise. It shall then explore more fully various aspects of risk management including strategic risk, governance risk, reputation risk, product risk and environmental risk. Each of these risks shall be analysed while considering the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and how the risks should have been better managed to prevent the disaster occurring.

Having spent many hours battling congestion and growing frustrated with ‘new’ traffic control methods which never seemed to work, the researcher grasped the opportunity to investigate potential new approaches to the issue of transport and congestion when the opportunity arose.

To suggest that modern technology is creating a world where we will one day all be borne via a petri dish is more than a little over the top. It was not too long ago that we were told that the condom would be the downfall of society and bring about The Rapture. In fact as we now know the condom is potentially saving the world from the rapturous embrace of HIV and AIDS. In all the discussions on the impact of modern technology upon our sexual and reproductive lives there is a moral and ethical undertone, some in favour, many more against. This essay shall look at both these sides of the argument and shall attempt to put them into context, especially in light of the recent revelation of the bench-top Ion Proton™ Sequencer and the fresh uproar it has caused. We shall begin by looking at the latest in technology, the bench-top Ion Proton™ Sequencer and analysing whether it should be welcomed or feared. We shall study John A. Robertsons extensive research in this area and discuss the legal and moral implications of genome sequencing and its potential impact on those with disabilities. We shall then follow this by studying the pre-implantation tests which are currently available in an attempt to see if the IP Sequencer will have a positive or negative impact on them. We shall also look at the abortion statistics which are available in regards to both Irish women and women in the UK who seek terminations specifically for the purpose of eradicating a foetus with a disability. The purpose of doing this is to fully understand whether pre-implantation might in fact be a way of preventing a greater harm to a foetus, instead of a lesser harm to an embryo. We shall see if the fear of eugenics is justified or whether Robertson is correct in his stance in relation to this matter, for he suggests that to assume that IVF would eventually ‘trump’ sex is more than a slight exaggeration. When we rationalise our thinking and look at the facts, especially in the case of ‘saviour siblings’ which many feared would lead to an abuse or the technology in order to create ‘designer babies’ or a ‘superior’ child, we begin to see that many of these fears are completely unfounded and created by scaremongering. We shall then look at current twin studies and epigentics in an attempt to rationalise our potential fears in the area of genetics before we analyse our own human moral values. We shall discuss how the changes in our moral understanding have impacted positively upon our sexual and reproductive health.

There has been a lot of research around economic growth and the government's role in helping its business sector flourish. The neoclassical growth theory and the endogenous growth theory are two overarching theories which deal with economic growth.
For the purposes of this research we shall focus more on the endogenous model as it is more widely employed. Due to the restrictive nature of this paper, we shall discuss the areas of government regulation, government policy and externalities, and the influence of a country's legal system and how they may help, or hinder, economic growth.